


Mingling Bloods

by emmals16



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Injury, Drabble Collection, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Medical, Nakamaship, Post-Time Skip, Pre-Time Skip, SBS info based
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-06 04:25:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15186731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmals16/pseuds/emmals16
Summary: Despite all their differences, they all shared one overlooked similarity: they all bled the color red. Or, the Strawhats are forced to contemplate their individual blood types, and the ones who share it with them.





	1. Sanji

**Author's Note:**

> (Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any related characters)

_**\---------** _

**"To mingle friendship far is mingling bloods.**   
**I have tremor cordis on me: my heart dances;**   
**But not for joy; not joy." ~Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale**

_**\---------** _

_**~In which Sanji's blood is rare, marines don't always want to kill pirates, and the Strawhats aren't afraid of odd, even possibly demented, ideas in their desperation.~** _

 

 

_Typically_ , one would think that a pirate ship would try to avoid marine confrontation when on the Grand Line. They were criminals, after all. Some, if not most, with bounties depending on the crew. The confrontation with marines would no doubt ultimately lead to deaths, injuries, and damages to the pirate crew's ship.

Things all best left to be avoided.

That's why the commander of this particular marine fleet was in awe when he saw the targeted pirate ship in the distance turn and begin making their way directly at them. And was stunned as the attack began, but no one was severely harmed or killed— even by a particularly disgruntled looking swordsman who chose to use his weapon of choice backwards.

They were surrounded by the end, all visible members of the pirate crew on board the marines' vessel. A ginger woman was standing beside a devil-fruit user who held the marines in vice-like grips with dozens of disembodied hands. And about five other visible people armed with their weapons of choice were surrounding them, and yet they somehow looked like they were missing someone.

One of the assailants, a boy that's barely recognizable in the thick fog and yet completely evident to be covered in scars, stepped up onto a crate in order to see their hostages more properly. The commander rolled his eyes, predicting where the situation was going. He had been in multiple instances throughout his many decades where pirates tried things such as this. It was as much a dire situation as usual, but he wasn't surprised.

If marines regularly execute pirates, it would make sense that pirates would want to return the favor.

"Which of you are blood type S?" the scarred boy suddenly yelled out loudly, startling the cowering marines. His question caught them all off guard. They stared; confusion evident.

_Typically_ , pirates did not waste time knowing blood types. They simply spilt blood of various types wherever they went without a single care.

A strange animal-creature hopped alongside the captain, blinking nervously at the crowds of strangers in front of it, "You have to have a negative RH factor!"

There was a long moment of silence where the marines seemed to forget about the dozens of disembodied hands holding them hostage, the woman who had summoned imposing lightning from nowhere, the sniper eyeing them all with sharp focus, the silhouette of a startlingly large, mechanical form in the fog, and the skeleton staring at them with blank eyes.

The commander even seemed to become oblivious to the sharp blade being held to his throat.

"What?" came a breathy question from the kneeling commander.

The small creature was the first to speak up, almost pleadingly, "We have a friend in desperate need of blood type S with a negative RH factor. We have no one on our crew with that blood type. Please, does someone have that same blood type here?"

The commander could almost laugh at the sudden turn of events for multiple reasons: The sudden revelation that they were attacked in order to assist a pirate crew, the prospect that it was to mix blood with one of their crewmates, and the fact that he himself had the exact blood type they needed.

The silence, however, dredged on.

"Luffy," the focused sniper called quietly, "they're not going to help us, y'know."

The continued silence confirmed the sniper's deduction.

"Even without eyes, this was foreseeable, yohohohoho~," the skeleton spoke up, startling the few marines nearest to it.

"It is incredibly rare…" the creature offered to its captain, blinking up at the scarred boy with watery eyes. The captain, though standing with the same intimidating authority as before, seemed to have fearful doubt flicker in his eyes. His crew may have missed it, the marine squadron may have missed it, but the commander didn't. He had had that same flash of doubt many times himself and recognized it immediately.

Something felt wrong to the commander, and the humored feeling began to slowly ebb away. He looked around, noting how all the members of this pirate crew were looking at their captain as though they were lost without his judgement here. As though they would do whatever he proposed without question because they had nothing to lose here.

_Typically_ , this much thought was not put into the lives of a mere marine crew.

"What happens to us if we help you?" the commander asked boldly, looking to the feminine hands wrapped around his own that were protruding from the floorboards in front of him. They were at this crew's mercy and he knew it.

The captain's expression didn't falter, though his attention seemed to focus in on the commander immediately, "Obviously, we'll both leave. No one will be hurt."

It was said in such a simple way— as though a sword wasn't held to his throat as they spoke.

Still, considering both crew's predicament at the moment, the commander felt that it was worth a try. Negotiation was often the easiest course of action when the opportunity presented itself. He slowly stood.

"Then I guess I'll help you," the commander said, "Don't seem to have much of a choice, now do I?"

The swordsman moved in front of the commander before motioning for him to follow after him slowly as the green haired man moved backwards towards the pirates' own ship.

"Chopper," the swordsman addressed in a hushed tone, blade never wavering from the commanders throat even as he backstepped to the small creature in an uncertain guiding way, "what happens if he's given the wrong blood type?"

The small creature seemed hesitant to think of it, let alone tell its fellow crewmate, "An incompatible blood type can attack the donee's immune system."

The commander only faintly hears something about 'fatal', but he becomes so intransed in the way the captain's face darkens at the prospect that he can only slightly understand the meaning behind the words.

The swordsman's face barely twitched, but something in his eye glinted dangerously. The ginger woman from behind the commander gasped subtly, whispering something to herself about 'no one being able to do something so despicable', and the dark haired woman merely admonished the dismissal of such a thing. The robotic silhouette in the fog clinked amongst the banter, reminding everyone of its threatening presence. And the skeleton quickly unsheithed a blade that had previously been hidden, a haunting and ancient aura warning the crowds around it.

_Typically_ , such an idea, to poison an obviously vital member of a high-bounty crew so easily. would be a dreamed of and lucky situation. Almost anyone would take the opportunity to better the world, the commander thinks.

And yet, staring into coal-black eyes that were inflamed in undeniably honest promises of pain in the faces of enemies, the commander found himself thankful that the thought never even crossed his mind.

"That won't happen to Sanji," the captain swore evenly, not even blinking away his gaze at the words, "This guy'll make sure of that."

And that seemed to be all it took. A subdued squadron of marine underlings, a haunting fog, strong and intimidating foes, and a trusting chance from an unlikely source.

The commander went with the small creature and swordsman, constantly reminded of the captain's presence even as he sat in a small infirmary and was subsequently forced to donate his blood to a pale, blonde man in a sterile bed. The covers were folded with a care that only allowed a glimpse of the relationship this man had with the rest of the crew, though, if the commander looked closer, he could also see the way the bandages were wrapped with care, the blonde man's hair was brushed back from his face by nimble fingers that had left imprints in the locks, and the way a straw hat was laying at the man's feet as though it was keeping watch over him.

He pondered his odd situation as he watched red fill up a tube connecting him to this man that would motivate this crew to do such things.

_Typically_ , pirates wouldn't be glancing at a crewmate in ways that the commander was witnessing. The doctor wore a constant face of concern, the captain a hidden sadness deep in his steely gaze, and the swordsman a faithful gleam in his eyes that spoke of no worries for a capable comrade.

_Typically_ , a pirate doctor wouldn't worry about bandaging an enemy, especially not as gently as the creature was for the commander.

_Typically_ , a marine ship would not be free to leave with the crew in tact— the members only having minor bruises and strained arms from being held for so long.

_Typically_ , a pirate and marine confrontation would have ended in bloodshed.

_Typically_ , seeing the crew rush into the infirmary as the marine ship floats away would be seen as an opportunity to engage in an attack. A sort of surprise that might be believed to offer them victory despite the way they were outmatched moments before.

But, this was obviously not a _typical_ situation.

And so the commander simply ordered his crew to leave, a thoughtful finger placed on his bandaged inner elbow.


	2. Nami, Chopper, and Brook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite all their differences, they all shared one overlooked similarity: they all bled the color red. Or, the Strawhats are forced to contemplate their individual blood types, and the ones who share it with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any related characters)

**\---------**

**"Friendship is held to be the severest test of character.  
It is easy, we think, to be loyal to a family and clan, whose blood is in your own veins." ~Charles Eastman **

**\---------**

**_~In which Nami is human, Chopper is a reindeer, and Brook is dead~_ **

 

The vast variety of characters on the ship wasn't ever overlooked. Sure, the crew had grown used to their nakama. If they were to describe the cast of people on the ship to anyone else it would have sounded like they were telling some sort of old pirate folktale.

' _There once was a pirate crew made up of a shapeshifting reindeer, a corpse, a half-nude cyborg, a curly eyebrow, a piece of seaweed, a woman resembling the goddess Durga, pinocchio, a money grub, and an idiot.'_

Nami giggles to herself at the prospect quite often.

They were colorful. They were vast in size and shape and demeanor. They completed each other— filled in the pieces that every member hadn't known they were missing previously. They were perfect.

That's why, when Chopper very subtly mentions one day to Nami, "Luffy, Zoro and Sanji are scary, but I think I'm the monster," in a tone that forces the idea that it's not necessarily a good thing, she can't help but frown.

It's the day following a rather taxing battle with a marine vessel. Nami had gotten hurt and the rest of the crew had gone ballistic. Luffy, Zoro and Sanji had sunk at least five ships before the marines had chosen to retreat. Chopper had unleashed his Monster-Point, preventing several dozen marines from boarding the Sunny.

She had only been grazed by a random bullet during the scuffle, and a few stitches later meant she was practically good as new.

Now, Chopper merely was checking the wound, prodding it with his hooves with the infirmary door wide open to allow for fresh air. Nami gleams down at the young doctor, "Why do you say that?"

Chopper hums, "I can literally turn into a monster, is all. Luffy's completely unnatural abilities can be as they are, but that doesn't make him a monster."

"A matter of opinion, really," Nami drones, watching her captain swing from the mast with inhuman ease. The way he devours everything edible is pretty inhuman, too. Even his exuberant energy is inhuman. Everything about him, except his genome, is inhuman. Nami sighs tiredly.

Chopper begins wrapping Nami's forearm back up with white bandages, being as gentle as he can, "I really don't mind anymore, though. With a crew like ours, somebody has to stick out as the odd-ball."

"Well," Nami sighs, "what about Brook? Or Franky?"

Chopper giggles lightly, no doubt picturing Franky's new form, which had amazed multiple members of the crew when they had reunited, "Franky's still human. So is Brook, technically— he's just dead."

Nami smiles, watching as Chopper pushes away from the medical bed after finishing tying off her bandages. She thoughtfully places a finger on her chin, "Then, wouldn't you eating your devil fruit make you human, too?"

Chopper spins around dubiously, surprised at the continuation of the conversation, "I mean, not  _really_. I still have a reindeer's genome, I'm just... _different_."

Nami growls, "I'm not letting up," she informs the young doctor, "I'm going to come up with something you can't refute."

It's not until much later that evening when the sun is setting in the sky, Zoro's snores are more pronounced than usual, and a red splotch appears on the previously white bandages on Nami's forearm does she think of her point.

Chopper comes down to tell her he wants to change the bandages, and that's when she catches him.

She smiles at him from her lawn chair, frightening the young doctor, "I've figured it out."

"What?"

The low hum of a guitar in the distance alerts Nami that her other victim is nearby, and the living skeleton comes dashing her way when she beckons him, loudly. He comes fumbling across the deck, still holding onto his guitar despite his hurry.

"Yes, Nami-san?"

"Are you aware we share a blood type?" she asks him, still sitting in her lawn chair without a care."

Brook hesitates, "I believe so, Nami-san."

"And are you aware that we also share a blood type with Chopper?" She doesn't wait for a response, believing herself to have made her point. She turns to face Chopper once again, "See? You fit in with Brook and I with our blood types, just like how you fit in with Luffy, Brook and Robin with being a devil fruit eater, and with Zoro with sleeping a lot, and Robin with loving to research— the list goes on!"

Chopper taps his hooves together apprehensively, looking from Brook to Nami repeatedly— lost in thought.

Brook laughs merrily, "It is an honor to share your blood type, Chopper-san— though I no longer have any blood yohohoho~"

Nami groans, rolling her eyes at Brook's skull joke as she reaffirms her attention to Chopper. She pauses when she lays her eyes on him, taking note of the happy smile on his face, eyes watering.

"Luffy belongs," he murmurs, still tapping his hooves together, "yet he's still monstrous... in a way…"

Nami turns once she hears her captain charging across deck towards the sleeping swordsman snoring on the opposite side of the ship, Sanji's angry voice and Usopp and Franky's undying laughter following him. He tackles Zoro to the ground in the beginning of a dog pile. Usopp follows suite even as Zoro's startled and annoyed shouts echo across the green lawn.

Brook grows distracted, laughing merrily along with the ruckus in front of them.

"If  _he_  can be, then...so can I…"

Nami smiles fondly at her rough-housing captain before turning back to the doctor standing in front of her.

"Then you're  _our_  monster," she says, tapping him playfully on his blue nose which elicits a delighted giggle in return, "and don't you ever doubt that."


	3. Zoro and Franky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite all their differences, they all shared one overlooked similarity: they all bled the color red. Or, the Strawhats are forced to contemplate their individual blood types, and the ones who share it with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any related characters)

**\----------**

**“Blood relatives often have nothing to do with family,**

**and similarly, family is about who you choose to make your life with.” ~Oliver Hudson**

**\----------**

**_~In which Franky is still very-much human, and Zoro doesn’t make a big deal out of much~_ **

  

Things about the Sunny were relatively simple.

If one of them needed something that another of them could provide, it would be provided at some point. If Nami needed alterations to her climatact, Usopp would take a look at it and get it back to her as soon as possible. If Chopper needed an unfamiliar book that somehow associated with his familiar medical genre, Robin would be more than happy to help provide one for him. If Brook needed to have reassurance that he was no longer alone on a ship, plenty of happy expressions and friendly touches would be given to him. If Luffy wanted meat, he would receive meat.

Some members of the crew need a lot, others need very little.

That’s why, when Usopp informs Zoro that Franky needs to speak with him about something, the swordsman wonders if he's heard incorrectly. The shipwright rarely asks for anyone's help, especially not Zoro’s.

And so he goes without question.

He finds Franky deep within the ship after wandering around aimlessly for probably an entire hour. The large man is tweaking something in his shoulder, a screwdriver held in the strange small hand that emerges from his larger one. Franky seems frustrated, a slant to his eyebrows that typically is reserved for battles and moments of irritating teasing amongst the crew. Here, alone in the bowels of the Sunny, one arm splayed out seemingly uselessly, it seems out of place.

Zoro clears his throat to alert the other man of his presence, meeting the cyborg’s eyes when he is found in the doorway.

“Ah, Zoro-bro!” Franky smiles at him, “I wondered if Usopp had bailed in telling you I needed you, but apparently you just got lost again.”

Zoro growls quietly, “I didn’t get lost. I knew exactly where I was going. The walls must’ve changed or something. You should really look into that.”

“What I should look into it putting up some signs,” Franky mutters to himself, tossing the screwdriver down on the table beside his outstretched arm, “Anyways, I have a favor to ask.”

Zoro says nothing as Franky motions towards his arm, “During this last fight, I felt something snap in my shoulder conduit. As far as I can tell, it’s close enough to where a few veins and arteries are, which makes it more difficult to repair.”

“So, have Usopp help you,” Zoro grumbles lightly, glancing at the limp, metal appendage settled on the table-top.

“I plan to, along with Chopper,” Franky assures, “But, with the little amount of blood I have left, if anything goes wrong then I’ll be screwed.”

“What do you want _me_ to do about it?”

“Nothing,” Franky says, and Zoro gives him a look that’s mixed between irritation and perplexion.

Franky raises his large, movable hand as if to stop any assumptions the swordsman could make about calling him there.

“Nothing,” he says again, “ _but…_ ”

Zoro quirks an eyebrow, crossing his arms expectantly.  

“If worse comes to worse, though…” Franky seems uncomfortable saying it, and Zoro simply waits patiently for his friend to finish, “Would you be ready to... _give_ me… some of _yours_?”

Zoro blinks. Franky cringes at the idea.

“Me?” Zoro questions.

Franky nods, “Yeah, you’re the only one who _could_.”

Zoro grunts, nods once and then turns as if to leave, “Yeah, sure.”

In Zoro’s mind, he means ‘ _of course’_ and ‘ _without question_ ’, but to Franky, the answer is somewhat careless. Like making a decision on where to eat, or what color to paint something— this is bigger than either of those and this _bothers_ the cyborg. He doesn’t like asking Zoro for this, he wouldn’t like asking _anyone_ for this yet he has to.

“Wait a minute,” Franky grumbles, “What do you mean ‘sure’?”

Zoro pauses in his departure, turning back to the cyborg. He takes in the baffled expression, shrugging his shoulders, “It means ‘yes’.”

Franky is taken aback, “Just like that? You’re fine with this?”

After spending two years working only on oil and wires and metal, blood seems like such a precious thing in the back of Franky’s mind. Like something that should be kept in a jar labeled ‘ _for emergencies only_ ’. He bleeds still. He’ll always bleed as long as he lives, but now it's just more of a marvel than a simple way of nature. When he bleeds, it’s a testament to how much of an _asskicking_ he took. If he loses too much of his blood, which could be nowhere near as dangerous an amount to any of the others, and he’ll be done for.

To be so nonchalant…

Zoro may understand, or he may not. But to the swordsman he only sees that a nakama needs help, and he has the means to ensure nothing bad happens. That’s the only information Zoro needs.

_And besides..._

“I lose plenty of blood as is,” Zoro grunts with slight humor as he turns to leave once again without a second glance at the bemused shipwright, “Might as well make good use of it.”

 


	4. Usopp and Robin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite all their differences, they all shared one overlooked similarity: they all bled the color red. Or, the Strawhats are forced to contemplate their individual blood types, and the ones who share it with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any related characters)

\--------- ****

**"Loyalty and devotion lead to bravery. Bravery leads to the spirit of self-sacrifice.**

**The spirit of self-sacrifice creates trust in the power of love." ~Morihei Ueshiba**   
  


**\---------**

**_~In which Enies Lobby is still fresh in everyone's minds, Usopp is brave, and Robin adores her nakama~_  
**

 

He wakes in the plumes of fog inside his own head. 

The perpetual feeling of chills throughout his body coupled with a horrid, echoing ache stradling every one of his bones makes him desire the dark, unfeeling sleep he has just emerged from. 

But something in his mind keeps telling him that he needs to be awake right then. That something was off. That he’s left something alone despite it not being finished.  _ Finished… _

 

_ “Everyone get on the ship!”  _

_ “Marimo, everyone’s back from town, c’mon!” _

_ The unmistakable echo of a shotgun being prepped for firing. _

_ “Zoro!” _

_ Pain… _

 

Usopp gasps, eyes snapping open.

He recognizes the room immediately, fear ebbing itself away at once. The infirmary. The Sunny.  _ Safe _ . 

Usopp sighs, and only feels the fear come back full force when a sudden hand pokes the tip of his nose. He shrieks comically, twisting his gaze around the room he could have sworn he was alone in. 

“Good to see you awake,” her gentle voice says just as Usopp’s eyes land on her, sitting in the chair directly beside the bed. She has two arms blossoming from the chair arms, holding up a large novel in front of her face, and another one coming from the bed Usopp lays on. Her left arm is spread out on the mattress, a tube hidden beneath a pristine white bandage. Usopp recognizes Chopper’s handiwork at once. 

“Geez, Robin…” he mutters, trying not to sound as worried as he is, “you scared me.”

“I assumed as much,” she replies with a smile, “I should let Chopper know you’re awake.”

“Awake…” Usopp echoes, turning the word over in his head before he suddenly and vigorously attempts to sit up. Robin makes a small distressed noise, more hands appearing on him before Usopp can even feel the reason why. 

The point all his pain seems to be emanating from.

He peers downward, ignoring the odd feeling of having so many gentle hands gripping his shoulders and arms despite not being part of a body, and focuses in on the red blossoming from white bandages across his abdomen.

“Oh…” he murmurs simply, allowing for Robin to push him back down. 

She lays her book on the bed beside Usopp’s leg, looking him in the eye, “You got yourself quite hurt.”

“I can feel that,” Usopp groans in reply, eyes flickering across Robin’s face to try to determine if anything else was wrong other than with him. He’s not sure he’d be able to tell even if there was.

Robin smiles tenderly, “Zoro is none too pleased with you as of right now.”

“Uh oh,” he murmurs, remembering the angry and startled shouts and the rough and large hands taking hold of him before blackness encompassed everything, “Is he going to kill me?”

“Highly probable,” she responds with a light chuckle, “He’s simply not used to being saved. Don’t worry, captain-san won’t let him.”

Usopp gestures towards the tubing connecting Robin to himself, “You were alright with—”

“Of course,” she says so sternly that Usopp feels taken aback, but she murmurs again moments later as gently as usual and with as much heart as before, “ _ Of course _ .” 

They sit there for a moment in silence, Robin dismissing the hands that were still sprouting from the area around them with as little as a wave of her free hand.

“I like returning the favor with most of everything,” she says a moment later, her voice speaking of the years she spent defending herself and doing things she wasn't proud of for the sake of surviving. But, also of memories from a harrowing day not too long before. Her smile perks the corners of her mouth up gently as she turns to reach for the door handle just behind her.

She pauses.

“Zoro may not be someone who is used to being saved, but neither am I,” she says, hand touching the door handle lightly, “In terms of returning the favor, I would like this much to be expected of me. _Please_.”

Usopp merely stares at her as she opens the door and calls out to the awaiting nakama outside. He can hear the overjoyed cheers from Luffy and Franky and the disgruntled yet relieved murmur from Zoro, who sounds to have been waiting just outside the door, as Chopper comes skipping gleefully inside with watery eyes. The sounds of the kitchen door opening and of heels clicking against the wood of the Sunny alerts him to the rest. 

And throughout it all, from the checkup from Chopper to the constant babbling from Luffy and the half-hearted threats from Zoro, Usopp can’t help but let his eyes wander to Robin’s quiet form sitting further away than before, a small smile on her face as she looks to the group of people in front of her— lost in certain thoughts and wonders.

At once Usopp has not a shred of doubt left that, just as himself and everyone else on the ship, if she had to give every drop of blood to save her nakama, she would. 

Without hesitation. 


	5. Luffy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite all their differences, they all shared one overlooked similarity: they all bled the color red. Or, the Strawhats are forced to contemplate their individual blood types, and the ones who share it with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The finale!  
> Thank you all for your support!
> 
> (Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any related characters)

**\---------**

**"The blood of the covenant is thicker**

**than the water of the womb." ~John 19:25-27**

**\---------**

****~In which the savior must be saved and there is zero hesitation to provide the means~** **

 

 _“_ _Luffy!”_

 

The sirens blare throughout the city. Marines would be on them momentarily and they were running out of time and places to look.

Zoro growls, flinging a hospital room door open and peering inside at an unsuspecting elderly lady. She shrieks, slapping the air in a woeful panic. Without a second glance, Zoro turns on his heel and glides over to the blond preoccupied with doing the same thing to a different room.

Just as with Zoro, Sanji has no luck and pulls the door closed once more.

Zoro huffs as they turn the corner in a half-run, “Damnit, I thought Chopper said the room would be on this floor!”

“He did, marimo,” Sanji acknowledges without even a glance his companion’s way, “But, he doesn’t exactly work here. He could have been wrong.”

Screams ignite the air to their right as they run past the receptionist desk, heading for the wing of upcoming doors illuminated by flashing red lights. Patients flood the hallways, most looking as though they just have mild colds or broken fingers. Nurses don’t even bother stopping them— too focused on the two declared pirates running amok in the hospital.

 

_“Somebody find Chopper!”_

_“What? What happened, Sanji-kun?”_

_“...ugh…”_

_“H-he won’t stop bleeding...damnit…”_

 

“Robin, what was that word Chopper said?” Usopp can barely keep his voice calm as the two walk side-by-side down the hallways filled with panicked nurses, “The department he said we’d find it in?”

“Pathology, the study of pathogens and diseases,” she answers swiftly, gleaming over at her companion with a practiced air of calm, “If I read the signs correctly, we have to go up one level to get to the department of Pathology. After that, we’ll have to use force to get what we need.”

Usopp chuckles half-heartedly, or in fear if one was to look closely, feeling his nerves burning as the patients’ eyes linger on them. Getting out of the hospital will be so much more comfortable. Less about sneaking and searching, more about fighting marines and getting back to their captain and Chopper.

 

_“Where the Hell is the ship docked at?”_

_“I-I don’t know, Sanji!” Usopp stares unblinkingly at the limp form in the cook’s arms, hands held up halfway as though he has the ability to make it all better. He doesn’t, “We had Franky move Sunny after Nami and us headed out…”_

_Sanji hisses something under his breath as he gazes around them at the surrounding buildings and trees covered with fire and prone bodies and_ more fire _. He tries desperately to not allow the overpowering feeling of despair become evident in his features as him and Usopp run through the town littered with battered and burnt marines. Looking down, seeing the paleness— the agony of the individual clutched to his chest, missing his precious hat and not having the energy to even address the fact that it was missing as far as he’s aware— though, in reality, Nami had taken it with her, he finds the attempts impossible._

_“Sanji, look!”_

_He does, and in the distance, just barely visible through the downpour of rain, he sees specks of orange and green._

_For once in his life, Sanji feels exhausting relief at seeing the swordsman sprinting in their direction. Sanji’s pace quickens with Usopp in tow._

_“Nami-san!” he shouts frantically, the called name devoid of any tenderness or affection._

_She approaches, stammering out shaky words as she skids to a stop in front of him, “I found Zoro. The ship is on the other side of the village. Brook went to tell Chop—”_

_Zoro suddenly comes to a halt in front of Sanji, not even bothering to meet his gaze as the swordsman tugs their captain from his grasp, hefts Luffy protectively closer to himself and charges off without another word._

_Sanji, on a different occasion, might’ve cursed the swordsman out as he left them. He might have joined Nami in asking what he was doing, or followed after him as Usopp does— hopeless to keep pace with the down right inhumane speed Zoro has somehow accomplished._

_But he doesn’t._

_Because, unlike Nami and Usopp, Sanji saw the look in Zoro’s eye. He saw the forced calmness. The look that showed a suppressed desire to panic and scream and maybe even_ cry _. Sanji saw the look of someone who has shut off every thought except for the desperate understanding of what needs to be done._

_And that scares him more than the blood staining his hands._

 

“Chopper, how’s he doing?”

Nami walks into the infirmary uneasily, climatact clutched in a white-knuckled grip as she gazes over the two occupying the room. Her stance is halfway in the room, halfway prepared to attack anyone who even tries to get on board without an invitation— a coiled cobra prepared to strike should the need arise.

Chopper, despite having the concentrated stern look of a doctor, is teary eyed when he turns to Nami, “I hope they get back soon…”

Nami’s throat constricts, eyes flickering from the reindeer to Luffy in the bed. His hand hangs off the mattress limply, face turned away and sheets tousled where he’s struggled for solace in the past few days. Nami hopelessly grips the strawhat that she has held onto as per her captain’s request, feeling her fingers shaking as she does.

“They will,” she assures, and then more surely, one hand releasing her climatact as to set a frightened hand on the black waves of hair poking out from the bed, “ _They will._ ”

 

_“I thought bullets don’t work on him!” Nami said frantically, clutching at Zoro’s sleeve since he was the closest person available for her to do so, “What happened?”_

_Franky sets his giant hand on the railing, “The last I saw of Luffy, he was pummeling those wimps. What’d I miss?”_

_“All I saw was Luffy-san stumbling and keeling over.” Brook mumbles thoughtfully, clutching his boney hands together tightly._

_“The dumb cook’s the only one who saw anything,” Zoro grinds out, trying his hardest to ignore the blood that still soaks his haramaki from when he ripped Luffy out of Sanji’s grip and carried his captain back to the ship at a hurried sprint— for once not getting lost on his way back. He catches Chopper’s gaze with a levelled look and calls for him to explain with a simple calling of the doctor’s name._

_The small reindeer shuffles in place, taking a shaky breath._

_“The marines knew about Luffy’s invulnerability to normal bullets,” Chopper declares, his small hooves quivering as he addresses the stressed crew, “They used kairoseki bullets on him.”_

_The crew goes_ very _silent_ very _quickly._

 

A crowd has gathered around the ship. Wondrous eyes taking in the unfamiliar vessel with the skeleton and cyborg guarding it. The two of them try not to draw any more attention to themselves than necessary, but despite their efforts, the inevitable comes into view.

“Franky-san…” Brook alerts quietly, ignoring the gaping crowd practically blocking his view of the marine troops marching in their direction.

Franky says nothing, watching without a word. He knows that the two of them are more than capable of taking out the few marines headed there way. And with Nami up on deck, and Chopper just in case, miraculously, things get to be too much, there’s more than enough man-power standing between the infirmary and the enemy.

He isn’t worried about _that_ , and merely glances around the marines headed their way with the hopes that he’ll see a familiar face. A smack of green or blonde or various hands seizing the oncoming marines out of the blue, or even of a frightened, long-nosed man running around the large crowd of soldiers without any care other than getting back to Luffy.  

He doesn’t see any of that, though, and prepares for a fight.

 

_“I can get them out easily,” Chopper assures as the silence gets too much for him to bear, “the problem is that he’s already lost so much blood...operating on him is almost impossible without the ability to start a transfusion line, but…”_

_“None of us are compatible with Luffy…” Robin mutters remorsefully, shaken by the fact that the kairoseki was still lodged inside her captain. The way it weakens her from outside her body is intense. She can’t even imagine..._

_Chopper regards her, looking to the ground and mumbling a quiet, “Exactly. And the longer that kairoseki is inside him the more dangerous it becomes for complete system failure.”_

_Everyone is quiet for a moment, and no one mentions how the sounds from the kitchen over head, where Sanji was busying himself preparing a large meal for when their captain woke up, has suddenly turned to tense and eerie silence._

_Zoro is the only one to speak, “How much time does he have, then?”_

 

“Found it,” Sanji murmurs enthusiastically as him and Zoro peer into the window of a secure door— authorized clearance allowed only.

Zoro huffs a irritated sound, pulling a sword from its scabbard right as Sanji prepares to do the exact same thing he was planning. Simultaneously, they both attack the heavily compacted door as though it had personally offended both of them.

The sound erupts down the hallway, and people on the floors surrounding them are probably aware of the noise as well, but the two of them pay no heed to the possibility of being found there.

They rush in, warped and battered security door laying in a heap of crumbled and sliced metal beneath their feet.

“Okay, cook,” Zoro says, glancing around at the test tubes and locked containers and random supplies strewn on shelves and in open cupboards throughout the room, “where should it be?”

“How am I supposed to know?”

“Damn you,” Zoro growls, “weren’t you paying attention to what Chopper said?”

“Weren't _you_?”

Zoro sighs irritably and is about to go about searching the various closed containers when he hears a familiar woman’s voice behind him. He pays her no heed, unlike Sanji who greets her joyfully, and merely watches as dozens of disembodied hands appear throughout the room and begins tearing into every container in sight.

“Zoro! Sanji!” Usopp shouts, then panics at his loud greeting and whispers, “we heard a loud explosion and thought that it was probably one of you.”

Zoro is about to respond when Robin makes a pleased, most definitely relieved, sound from behind him, “There.”

The hands all disappear as she walks forward towards a door on the far side of the room. Sanji follows her just as shouting sounds off from the nearby hallway. Neither Robin nor Sanji flinch at the sound, the latter of which moved to kick the door down like before. Zoro and Usopp, on the other hand, met each other's eyes before heading for the doorway and peering out.

Just as expected, marines were on their way to them— most likely having heard the loud explosion made by entering the room. Usopp screams. Zoro rolls his eye.

“Found it,” Sanji calls, glancing past Robin, who takes care to open the blood bank fridge and search the labeled bags of red inside of it, “marimo, could you…?”

“Yeah, yeah, stupid cook,” he growls, unsheathing his swords once again, “I got it handled.”

He knows that, as he steps into the hallway and is aimed at by guns and charged at by men with swords, that he’ll show _no_ mercy to any of them that even attempt to stop them from getting away with what they need.

What they _desperately_ need.

 

_“The kairoseki is slowing down his blood flow and his respiration,” Chopper tries to explain, “That means it’s actually helping to keep him from losing anymore blood at a drastic rate. I’d say...two days. Three, maybe, because of his stubbornness.”_

_Zoro walks past Chopper immediately, reaching for the infirmary door handle. If his hand trembles as it clutches the door handle, no one comments on it, “Sounds like we have three days to locate a town and tear that place apart ‘til we find what we need.”_

 

“Hand me that box, please,” Robin says as she completely ignores the cries of pain coming from the hospital hallway only meters away from where her and Sanji are. Sanji complies without a word, handing her an empty box. She grabs bag upon bag of type F blood, and even thinks to grab some RH- for future use— knowing their resident cook, she’s sure they’ll need it.

Robin stands, hefting the box up with the help of her devil fruit ability.

“Robin-chan, let me—”

“No,” she objects gently, gliding over to Usopp who aims at approaching marines. Without another word, she hands the box to the sniper with a meaningful look.

And just like always, they all understand.

Sanji nods once at Usopp, “Let’s get going.”

If Usopp is frightened, he doesn’t show it too much. He skips out from the Pathology storage room, running down the opposite hallway from the marines flowing endlessly towards them, and doesn’t turn back.

Even as Zoro stays behind to fight against the hordes of enemies who didn’t care at all about the life they were perilously trying to save. _Going to save_.

Even as Robin prevents marines from following them.

Even as they run out of the hospital after leaping down several flights of stairs, Sanji dispelling every marine that came across them on the way.

Everyone’s faith was now resting on his shoulders. And even if they hadn't put their trust in him, he wasn’t about to disappoint the one person who deserved to be saved for a change. Who was suddenly helpless to do anything but wait.

He kept running.

 

_“Zoro…” a tired voice tears him from his thoughts once he goes to stand and leave the room at Sanji’s beckons— they’ve reached their destination. The swordsman has cut people down, been part of the start of a war with the World Government, been completely prepared to cut off his own legs without blinking, and endured immense pain beyond measure and yet, here, staring down at the frail form on the bed, red staining the sheets and the the boy’s clothing, Zoro thinks he feels his stone-cold heart shatter._

_Sanji’s voice is the next that Zoro hears, and its more gentle than he thinks he’s ever heard it, “We’ll be back before you know it, captain.”_

_Sanji hesitantly turns to gather the rest of the distressed crew, but seems to find it immensely difficult to tear his eyes away. He somehow manages it, leaving the door open for Zoro as he goes and his hands shakily reaching to light a cigarette._

_Luffy reaches a trembling and weak hand out, staring into Zoro’s very soul as the swordsman takes the appendage, glassy eyes unwavering and full of sudden, desperate authority, “Make sure...everyone gets back...safely.”_

_And typically that would be a given. The crew is strong. The island has no tough opponents on it as far as any of them are aware and every person on their ship is prepared to sacrifice plenty to be sure everyone else is safe, but Zoro knows his captain and knows that this is different._

_He won’t be there to make sure._

 

“Chopper!” Nami called, running from where she had been standing on deck, blasting surrounding marines with lightning and constantly assuring the doctor that no help was needed. Her, Brook and Franky had the situation under control, he just had to stay with Luffy, “I see Sanji-kun and Usopp. Get ready!”

He almost felt like crying, and the thing was that, as overcome by despair and relief as he was at that moment, he didn’t even have time to notice the hot tears sliding down his furry cheeks onto the mattress in front of him.

He heard Nami shouting for Sanji and Usopp, heard footfalls as the two of them boarded the ship, and heard their voices as they approached the infirmary. Chopper was busy pulling sterile tubes and needles out. His hands were steady as he attached them to Luffy’s arm and prepared for the IV line to be attached to the blood his nakama had valiantly gone to retrieve.

Chopper was on autopilot when Usopp carefully dropped a box full of blood bags on the infirmary floor, and he didn’t hesitate to hook two of them up to Luffy’s frail form.

It was only minutes later when Nami also alerted everyone of Zoro and Robin heading their way. The sounds of marines fighting the crew didn’t die down until everyone was on board and they had safely left the dock, everyone now only part-way concerned about the marine vessel being boarded in the distance.

They’d be far enough from the island in no time. The marines wouldn’t ever have a chance to catch up.

The ship became almost silent then, and Chopper stood unmoving in the infirmary, observing the transfusion line with an almost frozen visage. He jumped when he felt a calloused hand land lightly on his shoulder, and only realized that all of his nakama had gathered around the infirmary door when he turned to face Zoro.

Brook with his expressionless skull that was somehow able to display an emotion that could only be described as haunted. Franky standing behind everyone as though he could support them, yet looking uneasy himself. Robin with her stiff stance, hands clutched in front of her and eyes squinted remorsefully— always calm, or trying to appear as such. Sanji with his tousled hair and undone tie, cigarette vacant from his mouth for once even if his fingers subconsciously twitch with desire. Usopp looking how all of them felt, quivering lip and searching, watery eyes. Nami with her disheveled tank-top and white-knuckled grip on the precious hat that belonged to their equally precious captain. And Zoro, always stoic and always focused revealing a hidden fear in the eyes that now lay on Chopper.

“Pull yourself together,” Zoro says in a tone that is both comforting and stern, his other hand rubbing the dampness Chopper had forgotten about from the doctor’s face with a single knuckle.

And suddenly, the weight of the hand on his shoulder feels like it could shatter the world into pieces.

But Chopper nods once, knowing he can bear the weight for _his—_ their— sake, “Okay.”

 

_“Hold on, Luffy,” Chopper mumbles, hooves tapping each other nervously, “Zoro and the others will be back as soon as they can.”_

_The doctor hadn't expected a reply, yet, as always, Luffy was full of surprises._

_“I know.”_

_Chopper gasps softly, glancing over at Nami who was busy preparing her climatact while consecutively explaining the plan to Franky and Brook. She stopped suddenly, all three pairs of eyes outside of the infirmary turning towards the prone form._

_And equally surprising, and yet not surprising at all, Luffy turns his pale face towards the four of them and smiles as vibrant as he can manage. If Brook gasps and moves back slightly at the sight, murmuring to himself as one might do in the throws of a nightmare, none of them draw attention to it— too lost in their own shock._

_“I… trust my nakama,” Luffy whispers hoarsely, breaths rattling across the silent deck, “A captain just… worries, y’know?”_

_No one says anything for a long moment, and when someone finally speaks it’s Nami— voice caught in the midst of a sudden sob._

_“You idiot…”_

 

It wasn’t until that night that the all-clear was given by Chopper.

Relief exploded across the ship, and Sanji finally found the motivation to move into the kitchen to make a very late dinner for the crew— setting aside plenty for when Luffy decided to raid to kitchen in the coming days. He never thought he’d look forward to it.

The entire crew was frightened by the close call. They had all grown used to the idea that Luffy was an invincible force of nature. After two years apart and coming back together to see how much stronger he had become, that thought even grew for most of the crew.

They had almost lost him, and all of them made a vow against the world that it would never happen again. None of them share their blood type with him, but they were damn sure that they were going to make the outcome be as if they had. He was going to live whether the world liked it or not.

And, hours later, when bleary dark eyes open and gaze at the sleeping crew surrounding him in the infirmary—

Zoro resting his back against the mattress with loud snores filling the entire room, Nami and Robin, forgotten books beside them, side-by-side in the corner, Franky settled at the far wall with Usopp strewn across his legs, Sanji protectively keeping his back to the door, Chopper resting on a stool by Luffy’s head, and a gentle tune on an old violin being played outside on deck.

— Luffy thinks the same for his nakama as well.

He closes his eyes again, not allowing himself to start a ruckus this once. He simply fades off into sleep once again, the sound of his peaceful and strong and oddball and _perfect_ family sleeping around him lulling him into resting blackness.

 

**_Fin_ **


End file.
